follow lisa is cooking

I have a little problem. I'm addicted to cookbooks, food writing, recipe collecting, and cooking. I have a lot of recipes waiting for me to try them, and ideas from articles, tv, and restaurants often lead to new dishes. I started losing track of what I've done. So now I'm taking photos and writing about what I've prepared—unless it's terrible in which case I forget it ever happened.

subscribe to

subscribe via email

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

These honey peanut wafers are also from The Modern Baker, and there are a couple of other cookies in the book I’m planning to bake in the next week too. Since these seemed like they would freeze well, I started with them. The use of honey and the simplicity of the dough drew me in instantly. It’s a very straightforward recipe with no stand mixer required. Honey, sugar, and an egg are whisked together with melted butter, and then flour, baking soda, and chopped nuts are incorporated. In the notes, Nick Malgieri mentions that the idea of using honey roasted peanuts came from Maida Heatter. Can you imagine a conversation about baking between those two? Honey roasted peanuts were perfect here, and chopping them works well for these thin cookies that spread a lot while baking. I used a natural brand called Flavor Tree. They were just sweet enough but not too much so, and they were crunchy without that usual shellacked surface.

Once the cookie dough is stirred together, tablespoon-sized mounds, spaced about four inches apart, are placed on a baking sheet. I fit six cookies on each standard, half-sheet pan. They are a little delicate when transferring to cooling racks and then to a storage container due to their thinness and slightly sticky surface. Parchment paper between layers is necessary for stacking them. But, the flavor? So good. Very possibly a new favorite. The caramelized honey and sugar on the bottoms of the cookies becomes toffee-like. If that weren’t enough, the chopped nuts are crunchy and peanutty while the cookie is much less dense than a peanut butter cookie would be. They’re thin but chewy and nutty and addictive. As soon as they were cool, they went right into the freezer for safekeeping.